Mission trip to Blackfeet - Browning, MT, American Indians, July 3, 2010 to July 10, 2010

Ministry Description:
Culture and/or State Information
In northwestern Montana on the eastern border of Glacier National Park, sits the city of Browning. Home to the largest community in the Blackfeet Nation, it is the hub of the Blackfeet Reservation and the home of several tribal offices and businesses. Even though the typical Native American families can be found here, an extremely high unemployment rate is responsible for overwhelming poverty in the Blackfoot community. It�s not uncommon to spot a few people whose day will be spent begging for pocket change or alcohol in front of the local liquor store. Unplanned pregnancies are prevalent among the youth on the reservation and rarely do the fathers take responsibility. This leads to many grandmothers raising a second generation of kids. With shorter life spans due to the harsh environment, many kids lose their grandparents and end up raising themselves. Suicide is a prevalent means of dealing with this grim reality.

Ministry Description:
You will partner with local Native American congregations to pour life and hope into their impoverished community. Some of the methods you will be involved in to help reach out to the Blackfoot community will be very labor intensive, but also extremely relational. Engaging with local Blackfoot teens will be a primary focus of your trip. Social activities such as cookouts, swimming pool parties, or even hiking in Glacier National Park are potential options that may serve as effective openings for you to pour into local teens, who might otherwise be resistant to your message. In a community where the youth are overcome by the harsh realities in which they grow up, you will have an opportunity to help rebuild their faith and touch their lives.

Food & Lodging
Food is prepared on site. Lodging will be at a local church, so a single-sized air mattress, bedding, and towels are recommended.

Recommended Prayer
- Pray a protective cover over the mission, from the spiritual warfare that is waged regularly over Indian country.
- Pray that God will show the teens and families of the Blackfeet Nation their sense of purpose and worth, despite their bleak circumstances.
- Pray for the spiritual peace and restoration of the families who have been broken by alcoholism, drug addiction, or suicide.

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